


At The Beginning

by Akane



Category: Center Stage
Genre: F/M, Post-Canon, Post-Film
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 21:15:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akane/pseuds/Akane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jody gets home after a long day of rehearsal and Charlie again realises why he loves this girl that much. Post-Film setting, Christmas story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	At The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [thedreamygirl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedreamygirl/gifts).



> Merry Christmas, dear thedreamygirl!
> 
> I have to start with a few notes. This is my first Center Stage fanfiction and only my second English story. I'm not a native speaker (I'm German) and the story is un-betaed, so if there are any mistakes please excuse them. (The title is courtesy of my mum.)
> 
> I hope you like the story. Have some wonderful Christmas days.

"Oh my god, when exactly did I decide to take this job?"  
Even before he had a chance to see her, he heard her stomping down the hall, flinging her ballet shoes into the next best corner, cursing her jacket as it, as always, refused to stay on the hanger.   
"What did he do to you this time?" Charlie got up from the couch and stepped into the hall. He could not help it, her cheeks flushed with cold and anger, the small strands of hair that had wiggled their way out of the tight and were now framing her face, it all made him grin. She glared.   
"What?"  
"Stop grinning."  
"Sorry. So, what did he do to you?"  
"He… nothing."  
Jody sighed and ran a hand over his arm as she crossed him on her way into the living room.   
"Really?"  
"Really. It's not him, it's me. It's me just not getting those steps right, it's me feeling like everyone is looking at me and asking themselves 'why the hell is she the soloist? Don't get me wrong, I love being the soloist, but sometimes… sometimes…" She fell silent as Charlie sat down next to her on the sofa and pulled her close. "Shhh… I know what you mean. I'm sure tomorrow you'll be great again. Look how far you have come already." She nodded hesitantly and he buried his nose in her hair and smiled. She really had come far. Sometimes he really wondered where it had gone, the clumsy, insecure girl that had first caught his eyes, years ago.

Or that hadn't really, to be honest. Charlie remembered well his arrival at the American Ballet Company, stressed and dead tired after his ten hour flight from Seattle. He hadn't really cared whether the room he had just entered was really his, and he hadn't cared about the people there. And then Eric had welcomed him and had instantly started flirting and he remembered seeing Eva and thinking that she looked like a strong-minded person, but he did not remember realising anything special about Jody. Maybe that she wasn't like the skinny girls he had seen while walking down the corridor. But apart from that?

It was absurd to think men wouldn't gossip. Especially when one was thinking about ballet dancing men. And naturally, one of their favourite topics were the girls. So Charlie quickly had learned that Jody was way behind in terms of technique, that she was frequently scolded for this and that many of their fellow students thought the ABA was not the right place for her. Some even had pitied him for being assigned her pas-de-deux-partner at the beginning of their second week. He hadn't been all that unhappy about it. Sure, Jody hadn't been as easy to guide as technically perfect Eva or as effortless to lift as skinny Maureen, but she had been fun and tried really hard. Sometimes a little too hard, he had thought.   
How much fun she could be, however, he hadn't realised until the evening they spent at that club and the completely hilarious morning afterwards. That…

"Charlie? Are you even listening to me?"  
He smiled apologetically. To be honest, he hadn't even heard she had started talking again, he had just noticed she had sat up a little.   
"I'm sure you were still ranting about bossy bighead Cooper."  
"Don't call him that! Though… you're right. By the way, how are you rehearsals going? Why do you have time to laze around here and watch TV, anyway, while I'm working my ass off for that damn company?"  
"Because I'm no lead dancer but just some person in the ensemble waving roses in third row."  
He grinned as Jody got red at that remark. "Charlie, you know I didn't…"  
"Shup up, will you?"  
He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. He still loved the smell of her hair, especially when she still was a little sweaty from rehearsal.  
Jody sighed. "What will we do on Christmas this year?"  
"You seem to like jumping between topics tonight."   
He could see she wanted to snap at him, but then realised he was actually right. So she just nodded. "I don't really want to talk about ballet anymore tonight. Apart from that, it's our first Christmas together and…" She let her voice trail off.   
"Okay. But Christmas unfortunately includes ballet. At least the 24th and the 26th for me. You?"  
"The same. We barely managed talking Cooper out of doing a performance on Christmas eve. He wants us to be something special in our first Christmas seasons, and so on and so forth… that's why I'm asking. What will we do after? That doesn't include ballet? Do you have any special family traditions?"  
Charlie thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Not really. You?"  
"No. I'm not much of the party type, that's the only thing."  
He again had to think of that night. It had been Eva dragging all of them along. And it really had been fun. When Jody had ended up in his arms after all the salsa and all the alcohol and had called him cute on top of that, he really had thought there was some chemistry going on between them. But then it had all gone back to the "just friends" part when Jody had started dating Cooper. He hadn't been happy about it from the start. Not that he had been in love with her already back then, but he did like her and thought her way too good for that man. In addition, it again made her the target of most of the school's gossip. The girl many still saw as not belonging getting the lead in a ballet that's choreographed by her lover? Jam for everyone who loved talking. First, Charlie had just wanted to save her from that. He was happy for her that she had got the role, he loved working with her, he didn't want her to get insecure again because of the talk. He was sure he already liked her a big deal but that there was something like love… it had taken some time for him to realise that. But when he did, he really, really wanted to have her. She just deserved to be treated like a princess. Jody had been way too good for Cooper.

"I like jumping between topics, you like getting lost in thoughts. What's wrong with you, Charlie?"  
Charlie just shook his head and smiled.   
"Nevermind. I'm just so happy I can be with you."


End file.
